The present invention is directed to a soft mechanical restraint system that may be easily and quickly deployed by a first person on a subject being held in a restrained position by a second person.
There are many thousands of human service and law enforcement agencies and facilities that provide care and supervision to aggressive, suicidal, and emotionally disturbed persons (hereinafter commonly referred to as xe2x80x9cEDPsxe2x80x9d). The staff and officers working in these agencies regularly come into physical contact with the EDPs through the use of physical subduing or restraint holds when the EDP becomes aggressive. Although there are many types of well-known physical subduing holds, the safest and most advantageous physical subduing hold is a Primary Restraint Technique (PRT) described in greater detail in a commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 6,273,091 entitled xe2x80x9cAPPARATUS AND METHOD FOR SAFELY MAINTAINING A RESTRAINING HOLD ON A PERSONxe2x80x9d.
While restraint holds are useful for relatively short periods of time, often restraint of the EDP is necessary for an extended period. In such cases, the EDP must be restrained using some sort of a mechanical restraint system. Typically this involves placing wrist and ankle mechanical restraints on the EDP so that the EDP may be restrained for an extended period of time at the place of the restraint hold, or transported to another location while wearing the restraints. Most previously known restraint systems involve mechanical locksxe2x80x94for example, one popular restraint utilizes a mechanical spring-loaded lock that requires a special key to open. It takes at least 4-5 staff members to successfully apply such restraints at a speed of no lower than 2-3 minutes per restraint. During the application of these restraints, the EDP must be held down and poses a constant threat to the staff members until the restraining process is complete. Furthermore, removal of such restraints in emergency situations (i.e. in a medical emergency) takes a significant amount of time since a key must be located and used to open each restraint on each limbxe2x80x94this is especially problematic because without the key, which may not be immediately available in case of an emergency, the restraints cannot be removed at all. Finally, such complex restraint systems are expensive, heavy, and require extensive training to use properly.
Certain more recently developed restraints include mechanical locks based on a belt-like mechanism similar to a clothing belt with a buckle and a portion of the restraint having holes therein. Other similar restraints include a protruding metal member on one portion of the restraint and slots cut into the body of the restraint such that when the restraint is applied to the EDP, the portion with slots is pulled over the portion with the metal member until the restraint is tightened and the metal member is pushed through one of the slots. The end section of the slot portion may be further secured to the restraint. One of the main drawbacks with this arrangement is the fact that it is impossible to fit the restraint exactly to the hand or foot of the EDP since the restraint can only be tightened in increments equal to distance between the slots. As a result, it is possible that the restraint will be too loose (making it easier for the EDP to remove their limb from the restraint) or too tight (posing a danger of cutting off blood flow to the limb). Furthermore, a struggling unsupervised EDP may be able to loosen the restraint by pushing the slot portion of the restraint away from the metal member. Finally, all types of above restraints require special custom-made connectors to connect to one another or to stationary positions (i.e. a bed, etc.).
Thus, it would be desirable to provide an apparatus and method for quickly and easily applying mechanical restraints to a person being controlled through a restraining hold or who is otherwise immobile. It would furthermore be desirable to provide a mechanical restraint apparatus that is comfortable to the subject and that may be quickly and easily removed in case of an emergency. It would additionally be desirable to provide a mechanical restraint system that can provide a secure fit to limb of any size. It would further be desirable to provide a mechanical restraint system that can be attached to commonly available stationary connectors. It would also be desirable to provide a lightweight mechanical restraint system that is easy to transport and use, and that is inexpensive to manufacture.
The apparatus of the present invention and method of use thereof remedies the problems associated with applying mechanical restraints to violent and/or struggling EDPs (and with removing the restraints therefrom). In brief summary, the inventive soft circular restraints advantageously provide: (1) quick and easy application to the EDP without requiring mechanical locks or alignment of slots with metal members; (2) comfort to the EDP due to the soft constriction of the restraints; (3) quick and easy removal in case of an emergency; (4) a secure fit to any limb size as the inventive restraints are dynamically fitted exactly to the EDP limb size during application thereof; (5) easy attachment to commonly available stationary connectors, such as seat belt buckles; and (6) lightweight and simple construction, making the inventive restraints easy to transport and use and inexpensive to manufacture.
The inventive mechanical restraint apparatus consists of multiple cuff modulesxe2x80x94two sized for arms and two sized for legs. Of course each cuff module may be utilized independently of one another. The arm cuff modules may be connected to one another by an interconnect, such as a piece of flexible but strong synthetic webbing (e.g. such as used in seat-belts) or a chain. Similarly, the leg cuff modules may also be interconnected in a similar manner. Optionally, each interconnect may be provided with a tensioning mechanism to control the interconnect length.
Each cuff module includes a flat flexible elongated body with two rigid loops positioned apart from each other on its upper surface, a resilient lining positioned along a portion of the lower surface of the body, the resilient lining being optionally removable, a flat rigid element attached to one end of the cuff body, and a releasable attachment device positioned on portions of the top and bottom surfaces of the cuff body. When the cuff module is applied to a limb, the cuff body is positioned around the limb such that the resilient lining wraps around the limb and the rigid element is threaded initially through one rigid loop and then through the other rigid loop and pulled, so that the cuff body is tightened around the limb, and portions of the top and the bottom surfaces, on which the releasable attachment device is disposed, come into releasable attachment with one another to releasably secure the cuff module around the limb, such that the cuff module cannot be unwrapped without first removing the rigid element from the second loop and then disengaging the releasable attachment device. An optional elastic band may be positioned on the top surface of the cuff body to store a portion of the cuff body folded upon itself at least once when the cuff module is in a storage position.
The inventive apparatus may be advantageously utilized once the EDP is restrained and placed into a controlled hold (or when the EDP is otherwise rendered immobile such as being asleep or unconscious). The cuff module is easily deployed from a storage position, by opening the cuff and pulling the rigid element which releases the folded portion of the cuff body from its folded position under the elastic band. Once the cuff module is placed around the EDP""s wrist (or ankle), the rigid element is threaded through the first loop and then through the second loop in an intuitive circular motion. As the rigid element is pulled, the cuff module is tightened, and the releasable attachment device secures the cuff module in a closed position. The rigid element may then be attached to an optional external restraint device, such as a stationary bed connector or the like.
The inventive cuff module is easy to deploy because the staff member only has to pull on the rigid element to release the folded cuff body portion from its storage position, close the cuff module around the EDP""s wrist (or ankle) and then just intuitively thread the rigid element through two loops in a circular motion around the cuff corexe2x80x94the releasable attachment device automatically secures the cuff module in the closed position. All together, the lightweight inventive cuff module can withstand approximately 10,000 pounds of force, all without any metal key elements.
Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood, however, that the drawings are designed solely for purposes of illustration and not as a definition of the limits of the invention, for which reference should be made to the appended claims.